United for Wildlife sets taskforce

United for Wildlife was created by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. Led by The Duke of Cambridge, the campaign unites the world’s leading wildlife charities under a common purpose: to create a global movement for change.

The Transport Taskforce of United for Wildlike has signed the Buckingham Palace Declaration. It is a landmark agreement committing to take real steps to shut down the routes exploited by traffickers of the illegal wildlife trade.

The work of the Transport Taskforce has been strongly supported by industry, NGOs, governments and intergovernmental organisations.

The Declaration has been hailed by The Duke of Cambridge as ‘a game changer in the race against extinction.’

The illegal wildlife trade is valued at between $5-20 billion USD per year, it is the fourth most lucrative global crime after drugs, humans and arms.

It’s not just a crime against wildlife, 1,000 rangers have been killed in the last ten years, which is two per week, every week.

95% of the world’s rhinos have been lost in the last 40 years.

In 2011 between 40,000 and 60,000 pangolins were captured and killed in Vietnam alone.

The problem

The illegal wildlife trade is valued between $5-20 billion USD per year, it is the fourth most lucrative global crime after drugs, humans and arms. The illegal wildlife trade fuels instability and criminality in demand and supply countries.

The vulnerabilities in transportation and customs capability are being exploited by criminal traffickers to move their products. One of United for Wildlife’s commitments is to work with the private sector to reduce trafficking, to tackle this over the last 12 months we’ve been working with leading members of the transport industry to establish the Transport Taskforce.

The Taskforce

Private sector businesses across the entire trade chain may be drawn into the illegal wildlife trade either unwittingly. The Transport Taskforce was created as a way for United for Wildlife to work with the transport industry to identify any role it plays in illegal wildlife trade and looks at the ways that the sector can break the chain between suppliers and consumers.

The United for Wildlife International Taskforce on the Transportation of Illegal Wildlife Products, is led at The Duke of Cambridge’s request by Lord Hague of Richmond and comprises of leaders from the global transportation industry.

The members

The Taskforce brings high-level leaders from the transport industry together with representatives from across the world of conservation, along with organisations already engaged in initiatives designed to curb illegal trafficking.

They are:

African Airlines Association

Air China Cargo Co. Ltd.

Airports Council International

Baltic and International Maritime Council

China COSCO Shipping Co. Ltd.

China Post Group Corporation

Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora